Track and Field Sets Three School Records In First Meets

The Harvard men’s and women’s track and field teams hosted their first meets of the season at the Gordon Indoor Track with the Harvard Multi Meet and the Beantown Challenge this weekend.

The meets would prove to be successful, as the teams combined for three school records and five meet records while taking home 13 titles between them.

BEANTOWN CHALLENGE

The Crimson wrapped up its weekend at the Beantown Challenge, as the team competed with Ivy League rivals Brown and Cornell as well as fellow northeast schools Army, UMass and Northeastern.

Both teams attained success with the women taking home its fifth straight Beantown title and the men claiming second behind the Big Red.

“I was very happy with the way we competed not just individually but as a team,” Harvard coach Jason Saretsky said. “It was great to see so many meet records fall as well as school records.”

In the field events, sophomore Nikki Okwelogu claimed the title and broke her school record in the shot put for the second straight week with a mark of 16.09 meters, continuing her season-long success.

Fellow field athletes Taylor DuPont and Reagan Nizdil took home titles in the weight throw and high jump, respectively. DuPont’s throw of 16.88 meters landed the senior in fifth place within the record book.

Back at the track, records dropped. Sophomore Jade Miller won the 500 meter record and title with a time of 1:13.14, while captain Erika Veidis, the previous 500 meter record holder, took home another record with a 1000 meter winning time of 2:46.71.

“The school records stand out the most,” Saretsky said. “Nikki watching her record fall for the second week in a row, [and] Erika Veidis losing her record in the 500 to Jade Miller but then taking the 1000.”

Paige Kouba set a personal record in the mile with a time of 4:49.99, while junior Autumne Franklin and sophomore Jackie Modesett would go one-two in the 60 meter hurdles with times of 8.62 and 8.65 seconds, respectively.

The 880-yard race saw senior Gabrielle Scott take home the title with a mark of  2:13.41 before Scott, Modesett, Fraklin and Miller would combine to take home the 4x400 yard relay in 3:46.81.

The Crimson men were not to be left out, as freshman Malcom Johnson led the track athletes with a 6.75 second victory in the 60 meter dash. The rookie broke the school freshman record and is now the second fastest 60 meter runner in school history.

The male field specialists contributed as well, with captain Ben Glauser setting a meet record in the weight throw with an 18.77 meter toss, which also claimed the title. He also took second in the shot put.

While the team shook up the record books this weekend, there is reason to think that it could happen again later on in the season.

“Each week should be better up until we get to indoor heps,” Glauser said. “I would expect a lot of records to be broken throughout the remainder of the season.”

HARVARD MULTI MEET

The Crimson got the weekend started by hosting the Harvard Multi Meet, consisting of the women’s pentathlon and the first four events of the men’s heptathlon.

The Harvard women demonstrated their versatility in the pentathlon as junior Madison Hansen captured the title with 3,657 points—her second-highest career total.

Hansen was joined in the top six by first time pentathlon competitors Allison Morrison and Modesett with the junior and sophomore athletes finishing third and sixth, respectively.

“It was a great showing for them.” Saretsky said. “It’s one of the hardest events on the track with five different disciplines…. I was pleased with their showing, and it’ll be one of our strongest events during Heps.”

In addition to the overall success, there were various notable individual performances with Modesett and Hansen going one-two in the 60 meter hurdles, while Morrison took second in the high jump with a 1.66 meter finish—the second highest in her career.

The success continued as sophomore Haley Baker would place first in the shot put by one one-hundreth of a meter while the 800 meter podium was colored crimson with Hansen, Morrison and Modesett taking second, third and fourth respectively.

On the men’s side, individual success was the highlight through the first four events with freshman Andrew Bolze taking second in the shot put and junior Mark Hill placing second in the high jump with a 1.93 meter leap.

In addition to the success, being at home for the first time was one of the biggest benefits for the team according to Glauser.

“I really like that meet because not only is it home but everyone competes together.” Glauser said. “In track you don’t necessarily have that…. It was nice to have everybody there.”

—Staff writer Julio Fierro can be reached at jfierro01@college.harvard.edu.